With less than six weeks to go before the election, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kurt Bills is pledging to visit Minnesota’s 87 counties over the next 36 days.

Bills, who is challenging DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar, says the road trip will start today in Crow Wing and Itasca Counties. Bills’ campaign manager, Mike Osskopp, said they’re conducting the tour to get their message out.

“Minnesotans are hungering for real discussion of the issues facing our country. Since Klobuchar was elected unemployment has doubled, gas prices have doubled, and the national debt has doubled.Yet the mainstream media elite is not talking about the tough issues facing our country, and hasn’t asked Klobuchar to explain how she will address these issues,” Osskopp wrote in a statement.

Campaign spokesman David Strom said Bills will stop in twelve counties this week including Hennepin, Wright and Olmsted counties.

Bills is lagging Klobuchar in polls and in fundraising. The campaign’s announcement comes one day after Klobuchar’s campaign released its first set of TV ads. Bills has not yet bought or ordered airtime.

Bills isn’t the first candidate to pledge to visit every county in the state. In fact, Klobuchar announced in 2006 that she would visit every county in the state each year that she’s in office. Her campaign spokesman says Klobuchar has met that commitment.

About the blogger

Tom Scheck has covered politics and state government for more than ten years for MPR News. He’s covered several gubernatorial campaigns, two statewide recounts, the presidential bids of Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann, U.S. Senate races, close Congressional contests and the Minnesota Legislature. He lives in Falcon Heights with his wife, son and dog. He can sometimes be found chasing a white ball on a golf course. It isn’t a straight walk. Tips are welcome at tscheck@mpr.org